Last Day Out

Last day out birding in Georgia, catching the train to Tbilisi tomorrow, so an afternoon on the Chorokhi Delta was in order. Tried this site last week, but as the temperature was about 30 degrees it was pretty impossible birding ! Anyway it's a big place that looks a bit like Dungeness without the power station - with gravel and Sea Buckthorn everywhere and river channels cutting in every direction. Birded the most accessible areas for about four hours (wasn't in the mood for wading across the fast flowing channels). Here's a list - 1 Steppe Buzzard, 1 Marsh Harrier, 1 White-winged Black Tern, 4 Curlew Sandpiper, 2 Green Sandpiper, 6 Dunlin, 5 Little Stints, 1 Purple Heron, 140+ Short-toed Larks, 2 Citrine Wagtail, 40 Yellow Wagtail, 3 Great Reed Warbler, 1 Lesser Grey Shrike, 20 Red-backed Shrike, 4 Olivaceous Warbler, 1 Barred Warbler, 4 Hoopoe, 1 Reed Warbler, 10 Whitethroats, 15 Cuckoo (inc 1 brown one), 1 Wood Sandpiper, 20 Whinchat, 4 Sand Martin and a Turtle Dove - a pretty good afternoon out.

Curlew Sandpiper

Cuckoo

Olivaceous Warbler

Purple Heron

Red-backed Shrike

Steppe Buzzard

White-winged Black Tern

Rain

Finally got out onto the patch, after a day of stupidly heavy rain - so bad that the foyer of the hotel was a foot deep in water ! The patch was fantastic though, even if it meant stopping and sheltering every now and then. All seen in a 2 hour period - 1 River Warbler, 1 Booted Warbler, 2 Nightjar, 1 Black-headed Bunting, 12 Ortolans, 1 Sedge Warbler, 40 Reed Warbler, 15 Willow Warbler, 4 Whitethroat, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, 4 Barred Warbler, 3 Lesser Grey Shrike, 25 Red-backed Shrike, 1 Little Crake, 10 Yellow Wagtails, 15 Isabelline Wheatear and 4 Little Gulls.

Lesser Grey Shrike

Nightjars

Red-backed Shrike

River Warbler

Black-headed Bunting

Even More Shrikes

More rain overnight and more migrants on my new temporary patch - 23 Hoopoes, 1 Great Reed Warbler, 4 Ortolan Bunting, 2 Spotted Flycatcher, 25 Reed Warbler (none yesterday), 40 Barred Warbler, now 96 Red-backed Shrikes, 10 Willow Warbler, 2 Chiffchaffs, 1 Red-throated Pipit, 3 Citrine Wagtails, 15 Yellow Wagtails, 3 Lesser Grey Shrikes, 40 Isabelline Wheatear, 6 Lesser Whitethroat and 10 Common Whitethroat.
A Great Crested Grebe offshore was a bit of a surprise. Also 27 Black-winged Stilt flew over heading south mid morning.

Barred Warbler

Citrine Wagtail

Isabelline Wheatear

Lesser Grey Shrike

Red-backed Shrike

Reed Warbler

Batumi, the day it rained Shrikes

Day one in Batumi, waited in all day for the rain to stop, by early afternoon it still hadn't stopped but I went out anyway. Headed for the site of the old casino, an area of rough ground about the size of a footie pitch - Jeezie Creezie - migrants everywhere !!!
Totals for about 2 hours - 15 Barred Warblers, 40 Whinchat, 60+ Isabelline Wheatear, 100+ Willow Warblers, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, 40 Yellow Wagtail, 15 Tawny Pipits, 3 Citrine Wagtail, 8 Ortolan Bunting, 40 Swallow, 1 Hoopoe and, best of all, 72 Red-backed Shrikes !

Barred Warbler

Isabelline Wheatear

Red-backed Shrike

Whinchat

Yellow Wagtail

Peckers

Spent two days around Wolski Forest looking mainly for woodpeckers, a difficult but not impossible task in July, I hadn't banked on the evil Polish mozzies though ! So after two days I had to give up before I ran out of blood ! I did manage to get several of Grey-headed, Middle Spotted and Great Spotted, and heard a few Greens and one Black. As well as the Woodpeckers there were lots of Spotted Flycatchers, Nuthatches and Treecreepers, 4 Hawfinch, 2 Wood Warblers and a Red-backed Shrike.

Grey-headed Woodpecker

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Middle Spotted Woodpeckers

Nuthatch

Red-backed Shrike

Icky

Still a lot of yesterdays birds around the patch - Wood Sand and Red-backed Shrike still present, new birds were Icterine Warbler by the turning circle and 2 Reed Buntings at the back of the Loch. Other birds present today were a Garden Warbler, Spotted Flycatcher, 2 Linnets, female Redstart, 6 Willow Warbler, a Whitethroat, a House Martin, Chiffchaff and 6 Shelduck.

Linnet

Red-backed Shrike

Reed Bunting

Wood Sandpiper

May Update

A bit of an update for May, Common Tern and Arctic Skua added to the year-list on the 5th and Whooper Swan and Swallow on the 7th. A bit of a fall took place on the 8th, with House Martin, male Pied Flycatcher, 2 Whitethroats, male Ring Ouzel, Dunnock, Redstart, Song Thrush, Lapland Bunting, 2 Tree Pipit and Wryneck on the patch, plus a long overdue garden tick - Reed Bunting ! Between the 17th and the months end a few more minor falls took place, Kestrel and Redpoll on the 17th, Crossbill and Common Rosefinch on the 20th,  2 Red-backed Shrikes, Icterine Warbler and Avocet on the 23rd and a Little Egret on the 30th.

Avocet

Common Rosefinch

Common Redpoll

Icterine Warbler

Little Egret

Lesser Whitethroat

Reed Bunting

Red-backed Shrikes